Moving Day
by mommanerd
Summary: Killian has the Jolly Roger back, so it's time to move out of his room at Granny's - but not before one last breakfast at the inn.


The key was heavy in his hand, the metal length of it clinking against his rings as he carried it down the hallway and through the door into the diner. Granny was stationed at her usual spot by the coffee machine, and was presently deliberating with the angry dwarf over the advantages of percolation versus drip.

"The drip's faster and easier to clean," she stated.

"The brew is weak!" Grumpy yelled. "How am I supposed to work eight straight hours in that mine with that wanna-be stuff in my stomach?"

"And a happy good morning to the both of you!" Killian kept his tone light. He'd miss their morning bickerings, but it wouldn't do for them to know that.

Grumpy harrumphed and allowed Granny to refill his ceramic cup. She settled the pot back into it slot and turned her attention to him. "Good morning, Captain. Your usual?"

"Sure," he said. He placed the key on the counter and slid onto the stool next to Leroy, who muttered something about how some people always managed to get things the way they wanted them. Killian gave him a friendly slap on the back. "It's all in how you ask, my friend."

"More like how you look, if you ask me," he said.

"Ah, well, there is that, too."

Granny set the plate of eggs, bacon and rye toast in front of him, and Killian gave her a grin and a wink. "Looks perfect, love."

"'Course it does," Granny replied. Her tone was gruff, but her color was high, and her lips twitched at the corners.

Grumpy groaned and hopped down from his stool. "I'm off to work," he said. "Would rather be swinging my pickaxe that watching you two have your mutual admiration party anyway."

"Later, dwarf," Killian said.

Granny retrieved the empty plate and mug that Leroy had left, and her gaze moved over to the key lying there on the counter. "So today's the day, hmm?"

"Aye." Killian took a swig of coffee. The dwarf was correct in that this dripped brew lacked the corrosive properties he'd grown accustomed to, but he'd never let the proprietress in on that. "Now that I've got my ship back, I can free your room up to the next wayward visitor."

She leaned against her side of the counter and peered at him over the tops of her lenses. "You've been here long enough to know that it's a rarity for that to happen."

"I don't know," Killian mused. "These days the town line seems to be a veritable open door."

"And don't be expecting me to welcome any of those kinds in here. Queens of Darkness, my ass. Trouble making riffraff that I wouldn't let near my rooms."

Killian dug into his breakfast, trying not to think of himself in those very same terms, but it was impossible.

"I wasn't talking about you, Captain."

"But you well could be."

Granny shook her head. "Nah. I've been around for a long time and I know what makes people tick. Those women, and Mr. Gold too, none of them are up to any good." She placed the used breakfast ware to a bin under her counter and retrieved her coffee pot, refilling his cup. "Now you, well you are here for entirely different reasons."

"Revenge, you mean?"

She laughed out loud. "That was your reason for being in this town for about five minutes. Once you shot that sweet Belle and got your comeuppance from that car, it didn't take long for you to change your focus."

He sighed. "I did deserve that tossing about, didn't I?"

"You won't get an argument from me. But by the time the second curse hit and you got back here into town with Emma in tow, and no ship to call your home, there wasn't a whiff of vengeance anywhere near you."

"I don't know. From time to time I…"

"From time to time we all have our moments." She reached out and picked up the key. "You could take this with you, if you wanted. You know, just in case you ever need a place."

"Thank you, but the Jolly Roger should suit me just fine. I don't intend to lose her again."

"I've always appreciated your loyalty."

"And I yours," he told her. The woman had been a stalwart friend over these past many months.

"You'll still come in for breakfast, right?"

"You couldn't keep me away."

He rose and dropped some coins onto the counter. He leaned across and gave her a little kiss on her cheek. The woman smiled at him, a rarity to be sure, and tapped his shoulder. "You know, if I were forty years younger, Emma would find herself with cause to worry about me."

"She would, to be sure." Killian grinned at her, and nodded, and headed toward the door. He glanced over his shoulder before taking his leave. "If I ever head out to the open sea again, I could use another good pirate. I wouldn't even make you cook. I have Smee for that."

"Then I'm your girl, captain."

"That you are."

The door closed behind him and he moved along the sidewalk, nodding at acquaintances as we went. This place had become much more to him than merely Emma's hometown, and that was something he'd never expected to find. Perhaps his Swan wasn't the only one who'd come home.


End file.
